Understanding the Parts of the Mass EXPLANING EACH PART OF THE MASS BY FR. FRANCIS J. HOFFMAN, JCD I know you’ll learn something new about the Mass and I hope that it helps to deepen your faith. Please feel free to share these lessons with your friends and family, and Be assured of my prayers. 1 HOLY WATER As you enter the Church, look for the Holy Water font near the entrance. It is a pious custom to dip your right hand in the font and bless yourself with the Holy Water as you quietly say, “In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.” This little ritual reminds us of our baptism – that’s why the font is near the door of the Church, because we ‘entered the Church through baptism.’ At the same time, this gesture is also a sacramental and can absolve us of our venial sins. It helps remind us that we have just entered into a sacred place for a sacred time. GENUFLECTION “At the name of Jesus, every knee must bow.” That’s what St. Paul wrote years ago. And so, as the priest and ministers approach the altar they make a genuflection to honor the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist in the tabernacle. If the tabernacle is not in the center of the sanctuary, then the priest bows to the altar and the crucifix as a sign of reverence. When the faithful enter the Church, and before they enter their pew, it is praiseworthy for them to make a genuflection to the tabernacle. The tabernacle containing the Most Blessed Sacrament should be clearly visible. Look for the little vigil light burning next to it. 2 THE TARBENACLE Benedict XVI wrote: “The Holy Eucharist is the center of absolutely everything.” The most important item in a Catholic Church is the tabernacle – the noble, beautiful, and secure safe that contains the Holy Eucharist, which is the very Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who is really, truly, and substantially present under the appearances of bread and wine. It is truly the “Holy of Holies.” That’s why, in most Churches, the tabernacle is placed in the center of the sanctuary or on the back altar, or at least in a place which is clearly visible and marked by a vigil light. Pope THE ALTAR While the tabernacle is the most important item in a church, the altar is no less important during Mass. Because upon the altar the Perfect Sacrifice is renewed and Jesus Christ is made present and offered to the Father for His Glory and for the expiation of our sins. For that reason, when the priest enters and leaves the Mass, he bows profoundly and kisses the altar, which is a sign and instrument of our salvation. The altar in a Catholic Church is a direct descendant of the Altar of Sacrifice of Abraham on Mount Moriah, and the other altars of sacrifice of the Old Testament. It is typically made of stone, immovable and truly 3 noble in appearance. The altar is adorned with an altar cloth of linen, for Jesus was wrapped in linen after He died; it is also adorned with a crucifix and up to six candles for feast days, or even seven candles when the bishop is present. The candles remind us that Christ is the Light of the World, and the crucifix reminds us that Jesus so loved us that He died for us on the cross to redeem us from our sins. In solemn liturgies, the altar may be incensed and decorated with flowers, which can be truly abundant and spectacular in the churches found in the Philippines, Mexico, Spain and Latin America. THE CRUCIFIX Every Catholic Church has a tabernacle, an altar, and a crucifix – which is a cross with the figure of Christ crucified. The crucifix is in the sanctuary near the altar and should be clearly visible. It reminds us how much Jesus loved us and is an invitation to love Jesus in return. Our religion is about a person – Jesus Christ – who is true God and true Man. Jesus loves us and invites us to love Him in return, and that love is expressed in prayer and worship, and at the same time through service to our neighbor. The first commandment is to love God above all things, and the second is like it: to love your neighbor as yourself. That’s where the cross of Christ comes in. Someone once told St. Teresa of Calcutta: “I would not touch a leper for a million dollars!” 4 To which Mother Teresa replied: “And I would not touch a leper for TWO million dollars! But I will touch a leper for the love of Christ.” By gazing upon the crucifix, our love for Christ goes deeper. THE SACRISTY The sacristy is a special room in the church, usually next to or behind the sanctuary, which many of the faithful never see. The sacristy is where the priest vests for Mass, and in the sacristy there are closets for vestments, shelves for storing the various liturgical ornaments used in the Mass (candles, thurible, cruets, bells, bread, wine, etc.) and a safe for the sacred vessels (chalice, ciborium, and monstrance). Often in the sacristy there will be a special sink for cleansing and polishing the sacred vessels, as well as a sacrarium. A sacrarium is a sink that drains directly into the ground and is only used for washing sacred vessels and the sacred linens. PRAYERS BEFORE MASS You have heard the conventional wisdom, “You get out of it, what you put into it”, and that surely applies to the Mass. Worship resources, including the free Relevant Radio® App, will help you get more out of the Mass by offering you any number of traditional prayers to pray in the moments before Mass. Try to call to mind the intentions you will pray for at Mass, especially the spiritual and material needs of loved ones, and read and 5 reflect on a time-tested prayer before Mass. This is one of my favorites: A Prayer Before Mass (by St. Thomas Aquinas) Almighty and everlasting God, behold I come to the Sacrament of Thine only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ: I come as one infirm to the physician of life, as one unclean to the fountain of mercy, as one blind to the light of everlasting brightness, as one poor and needy to the Lord of heaven and earth. Therefore, I implore the abundance of Thy measureless bounty that Thou wouldst vouchsafe to heal my infirmity, wash my uncleanness, enlighten my blindness, enrich my poverty and clothe my nakedness, that I may receive the Bread of Angels, the King of kings, the Lord of lords, with such reverence and humility, with such sorrow and devotion, with such purity and faith, with such purpose and intention as may be profitable to my soul’s salvation. Grant unto me, I pray, the grace of receiving not only the Sacrament of our Lord’s Body and Blood, but also the grace and power of the Sacrament. O most gracious God, grant me so to receive the Body of Thine only- begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, which He took from the Virgin Mary, as to merit to be incorporated into His mystical Body, and to be numbered amongst His members. O most loving Father, give me grace to behold 6 forever Thy Beloved Son with His face at last unveiled, whom I now purpose to receive under the sacramental veil here below. Amen. SIGN OF THE CROSS AND GREETING We begin the Mass – as we begin almost every prayer and sacrament – by making the Sign of the Cross, using the exact words that Jesus taught us (Mt. 28:19) just before He ascended into heaven. By signing ourselves with the cross as we say “In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen,” we call to mind two central truths of our Faith: that God is a trinity of persons, and that our savior Jesus Christ died for us on the cross. No other gesture so clearly marks a person as a Roman Catholic than the Sign of the Cross. Next, the celebrant greets the faithful with the words, “The Lord be with you,” to which they respond, “And with your spirit.” What a wonderful greeting, what a wonderful wish! What could possibly be better than having the Lord with us? And what could possibly be better than the Lord being with your spirit in the state of grace? Have you noticed that the more enthusiastic and robust the response by the congregation (“And with your spirit!!!”), the better the homily will be minutes later? 7 THE CONFITEOR Of all the magnificent prayers at Mass, the Confiteor is one of my favorites, and it comes at just the right moment: the beginning of Mass. It is deeply powerful, sincere, searching, and human. “I confess to Almighty God,” screams, “I am NOTHING! Help me God! And everyone else help me too!” We exclaim it at the beginning of Mass to prepare ourselves for what is about to take place, much like a humble and respectful guest removes his dirty shoes when he enters someone’s beautiful home. Here is the Confiteor: I confess to Almighty God and to you, my brothers and sisters, that I have greatly sinned, in my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done and in what I have failed to do, through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault; therefore I ask Blessed Mary ever-Virgin, all the Angels and Saints, and you, my brothers and sisters, to pray for me to the Lord our God.